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Daniel Kehlmann

Daniel Kehlmann

On Facing the Blank Page

“Filling the blank page is agony.” The German literary “wunderkind” Daniel Kehlmann, author of the international bestseller ‘Measuring the World’, puts it thus clearly in this interview on the difficult beginning of a novel.

“There is something deeply satisfying about physically filling a blank page with lines of your writing.” Though Kehlmann prefers the process of rewriting and reshaping, he still acknowledges the pleasure he derives from having overcome the blank page.

Daniel Kehlmann (b. 1975) is a German author, who was born in Munich, Germany and raised in Austria. He has written international bestsellers such as ’Me and Kaminski’ from 2003 (’Ich und Kaminski’) and ’Measuring the World’ from 2006 (‘Die Vermessung der Welt’) for which he was awarded the Heimito von Doderer Prize. The latter book furthermore sold around 3 million copies in Germany alone and roughly twice that worldwide, having been translated into more than 40 languages and made into a film in 2012. Moreover, Kehlmann’s novels are on the school syllabus in Germany.

Daniel Kehlmann was interviewed by Kasper Bech Dyg in connection to the Louisiana Literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark in August 2014.

Jonathan Safran Foer

Die Cutting a Novel

Conversation with Jonathan Safran Foer about his book and artwork Tree of Codes, a novel that has been carved out of another novel by one of Foer’s favourite novelists, Bruno Schulz.

Three Writers

On a Riverbed by Olafur Eliasson

Ever wondered what 180 tons of Icelandic rocks would look like, filling up a museum of modern art? Follow the acclaimed writers Sjón, James McBride and Daniel Kehlmann, as they take a tour through 'Riverbed', created by Olafur Eliasson.

Daniel Kehlmann

Someone Else

”I think a lot about chance and coincidence. We tend to regard the status quo as necessary, but in fact small details rule our existence. Absolutely anything in life could be completely different. For a writer this is an ideal situation: The novel is the art form of ambivalence.” Meet German writer Daniel Kehlmann, author of the global bestseller Measuring the World.

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